Teong Tzen Wei bags Singapore’s first swim medal of Asian Games with silver in 50m butterfly

HANGZHOU: After a disappointing Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia earlier this year, swimmer Teong Tzen Wei had a simple message to send.

“I’ll be back.”

And at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre’s aquatic arena on Thursday (Sep 28), Teong kept his word.

The 25-year-old clinched Singapore’s first swimming medal of the 2023 Asian Games, after finishing second in the men’s 50m butterfly in a time of 23.34s. This is also his first Asiad medal.

The silver brought with it “mixed emotions”, said the Singaporean.

“I'm happy to get our first medal but sad to be getting a silver again like in the Commonwealth Games and the SEA Games. So, mixed emotions now,” he explained.

“But I’ll enjoy my moment as it's been a tough season … Tomorrow’s a new day and I will look to find ways to become better and improve because I’m not satisfied.”

South Korea’s Baek Inchul pipped Teong to the wall in a new Games record of 23.29s, while Kazakhstan’s Adilbek Mussin finished third (23.44s). 

“It’s good that he's back on the podium and being able to experience that after a year from post Commonwealth (Games),” said national head coach Gary Tan.

“The good thing for me is to see his confidence back up again. Hopefully from there, we can start building his confidence to get into qualification phase towards the Olympics.”

The Asian record of 22.93s, set in 2017, belongs to Teong’s compatriot Joseph Schooling.

At the last Asian Games in 2018, the Singapore swim team won six medals, including two golds courtesy of Schooling. 

Teong’s teammate Mikkel Lee, who qualified for the final with the sixth-fastest time, finished 7th in a time of 23.60s.

It has been a testing 2023 for Teong. 

At the SEA Games earlier this year, he was pipped to gold in the same event by Lee. In